Canid pokemon are known the world over as symbols of loyalty, and trainers the world over have been pleasantly surprised when their Growlithe or Lycanroc or other dog went well above and beyond what anyone could reasonably expect of their pokemon. For this reason, alone of the loyal three, Okidogi has become popular far beyond Kitakami, the legend of its heroic sacrifice an ideal for any retainer to aspire towards – and the importance of Munkidori and Fezandipiti often became lost in the retelling.
The Kitakami Eiyuu Monogatari states only that Okidogi 'gave a hand signal' in its final, fateful battle – an enigmatic passage that is difficult to reconcile with the poison chain around its neck (much like those of its comrades) which connected it to its trainer. The gesture is not described, and has in Kitakami become associated with the pose depicted in its statue, which is locally held to be taken from the position of its body at death. Yet by the time the statue was built, art produced in other regions already portrayed Okidogi making a wide variety of culturally distinct hand signals, all representing the local way to mark affirmation.
Many historians have suggested that the Kitakami statue had similar origins, and should therefore not be used to interpret the text – which probably meant that Okidogi pointed to a weak spot it had noticed on Ogerpon. This explanation, however, has been widely ignored by both advertising executives and the general public, for the supportive and faithful dog who always reassures their trainer is far more popular than the historical reality of this pokemon.
Whatever it gestured to its teammates on that fateful day, an Okidogi giving the thumbs-up is today one of the most popular emojis on social media; it is generally used to indicate polite agreement.